A multirow stalk-crop harvester has a chassis that is displaced along the ground and that has at its front end a plurality of forwardly open throats each adapted to receive a respective row of the crop during harvesting thereof. At the extreme front end relative to the normal direction of travel of the harvester each such throat is provided to one side thereof with a cutting rotor and to the other side thereof with a sprocket over which is spanned a conveyor chain that extends back along the respective throat. The rotor is continuously driven from the sprocket by means of gearing, so that as the machine moves along the ground a crop stalk is grasped at the base and is severed close to the ground. Thereafter the crop stalk is moved back along the throat by means of pushers or entrainment blocks carried on the conveyor chain. The cutting operation is normally carried out by cooperation of a blade fixed at the extreme front end of each throat with a plurality of angularly spaced blades carried on the cutting rotor.
In such a system as described in East German (DDR) patent No. 120,752 a mounting plate is provided at the front end of each of these throats. The cutting rotor, sprocket, and gearing for the respective throat are carried on this mounting plate.
In most systems, however, the sprockets of adjacent throats are on opposite sides of the respective throats. Similarly various throats are inclined relative to the forward direction of travel of the machine. As a result each mounting plate must be specially made for the respective throat, and the various parts must be specially assembled thereon for each separate throat. This type of construction considerably increases the cost of the harvester, and requires a user to stock a multiplicity of different spare parts in order to be able to service the machine. In the event of a simple breakdown due, for example, to a rock wedging between the blades, it is necessary to disassemble the mechanism at the front end of the throat in question, and reassemble it later after replacing or sharpening the damaged blade or blades, taking particular care to tailor the reassembly operation to the particular throat, using those new parts which are necessary for the particular inclination and attitude of the various parts relative to each other.